Ep Collection 1 & 2

Cranes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 28, 1997)
• Original Release Date: October 28, 1997
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Dedicated
• ASIN: B000003RSM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #272,949 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Should have been called a Greatest Hits Collection, October 17, 2006

By 

Troy Rexroth "DeadMouse" (Vancouver, Wa. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ep Collection 1 & 2 (Audio CD)

I agree with the other reviewer that said this was an odd compilation with an inappropriate and misleading title. While this is called the EP Collection Volumes 1 & 2, this is sadly not the case at all. In fact, this collection is missing quite a few songs from their actual respective ep releases and instead replaces them with common album tracks instead leaving this far from a complete ep collection at all.

I have recently compiled every single and ep from their initial Escapable EP to the Shining Road Double Single onto cd-r's and still had a little room to spare on the first disc. The following is what I compiled in complete and chronological order and what should have been released if this were to have been a real EP Collection. Songs with the asterisk are the songs that are missing from their EP Collection.

My Compilation:
Disc 1
01. Inescapable
02. Give
03. Dada 331
*04. Inescapable II (Inescapable EP)
*05. Untitled (Gigantic 2 compilation)
06. I Hope
07. E.G. Shining
08. Cha Cha Escueta
09. Adoration
10. Brigher
11. Tomorrow's Tears
12. Casa Blanca
*13. Sixth Of May (Wings Of Joy CD)
14. Dreamless
15. Starblood Remix (hidden on the official release)
*16. Fuse (Self-Non-Self CD)
*17. Self-Non-Self (Wings Of Joy Bonus 12")

Disc 2
01. Adrift
*02. Everywhere (common track on Forever)
03. Underwater
*04. The Puppet (Forever UK Bonus CD)
*05. Shine Like Stars (Forever German/UK Bonus CD)
*06. At Sea (Forever German Bonus CD)
07. Slide (hidden on the official release)
*08. Wings Of Joy (Forever German Bonus CD)
*09. Trumpet Song (Forever German Bonus CD)
*10. Jewel (Robert Smith Remix)(Jewel CD-Single)
*11. Leave Her To Heaven I (Jewel German CD-Single)
*12. Leave Her To Heaven II (Jewel German CD-Single)
*13. Clear (Ring Tailed Snorter Mix) (Jewel CD-Single)
*14. Cloudless (Thais Mix) (Jewel CD-Single)
15. Shining Road
16. Lilies
17. September
*18. Green Song 7 (Shining Road CD-Single)
*19. Shining Road (Brauer Mix)(Shining Road CD-Single)
20. Lilies (Flood Mix)
*21. Don't Close Your Eyes (Shining Road CD-Single)
*22. Organ Song (Shining Road CD-Single)

Now looking at that, you are missing 5 songs from disc 1 and a whopping 15 songs from disc 2. And thats considering that I was including album songs that were originally on the eps/singles which could have been removed to make room for more of the senseless Forever Remixes that add nothing to the songs anyways. In fact, some of the best songs like Leave Her To Heaven I & II and the awesome Robert Smith remix of Jewel were completely ignored. Granted, some of the missing songs probably should be left missing, but my aim was to have a complete ep/singles collection unlike the one offered to us. Oddly enough, there are two hidden tracks tacked on to the last song on disc 2 of the official release which contains the songs Slide and Starblood(Remix). Unfortunately you have to wade through 5 minutes of silence before you get to them. I've never understood nor cared for this "hidden" track gimmick.

All in all, this isn't a bad way to get a lot of hard to find and expensive ep/singles tracks and to also get a good best of collection of Cranes songs. Unfortunately, some of the missing songs are extremely hard/rare to find and often times very expensive if found. I just wish they would have put together something that was more in line with what they were claiming to offer.

I give this 3 stars for being a decent collection of ep/singles and common songs for the casual Cranes collector listener. But I dock it 2 stars for the inappropriate title and missing an abundance of very hard to find tracks.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good beginings, but sad growth., July 11, 2000

By 

"poisonpalm" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ep Collection 1 & 2 (Audio CD)

Music is a dumb thing to review. Ears differ too much, but i can try to review The Cranes EP collection from a personal view.

When listening to The Cranes EP collection, it becomes evident to me why i gradually lost interest in their music. A band can often times sound better in their rough, raw beginings. Such is the case with the Cranes SELF-NON-SELF and WINGS OF JOY. Moody, fresh, there is an energy in those two albums, particularly on WINGS OF JOY, that is less and less a part of thier subsequent works. In those stark, hungry, days, recording in what sounds like an abandoned, decaying factory, they have an edge that disappears as they began to polish their sound and structure on FOREVER and LOVED (though those albums still contain some really great songs). It is kind of like what happened to Dinosaur Jr, the invigorating, alive, fuzz laden YOU'RE LIVING ALL OVER ME and BUG gave way to albums more and more polished, dull, and repetitive.

The first disc contains tracks from thier earliest days, and it is this disc that is worth the price of the album. They dont sound like any other gloomy band, thanks mainly to A. Shaw's vocals, and J. Shaw's gritty compositions. Here they are inventive and loose, pounding out melancholy, drenched in murk. There are a few misses, but interesting misses, a band finding thier way.

The second disc is kind of a telling downfall. While it does have some good songs, as it presses on, it is quite clear their sound loses its grime. A dark band that had songs like no other, morphs into a strange, generic, pop pop produced, diluted band. Age takes it toll. The last two songs are a failed exersise, The Cranes interpret Satre, but then, tacked onto the end are two hidden tracks, one of witch is good, new? song, and the other a live version of a WINGS OF JOY song. It is these last two tracks that happily close the disappointing second disk. They remind me of what the Cranes once were, and hopefully, someday will re-discover, being a band that stands apart.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Incomplete but still wonderful, April 30, 2001

By 

Sir Grand Citizen (Earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ep Collection 1 & 2 (Audio CD)

An odd collection this. It doesn't represent ALL of their E.P. tracks. It includes many album-tracks which most fans will have already. And, most annoyingly, with so many excellent b-sides not included, there's EMPTY SPACE at the end of the first CD which could have been utilised!! That said, the music is still amazing, beautiful, heavenly. The gripes and groans posted elsewhere in regards to Alison's voice are empty gestures. Like Dylan and Cohen, either you get past the voice and wallow in the sonic heaven, or you don't. Cranes have always been one of the more original outfits to emerge from the UK... epic sweeping songs, droning beats, and vocals which drip like treacle around the listener's head. It's not a good starting point (nor is it very complete); all the same, this collection is HIGHLY recommended.